Cat's Choice (17 page)

Sealing his wrist with a swipe of his tongue, he sat back in his chair and continued talking. “As I explained before , my clan wants him dead and will stop at nothing to see it happen. This,” Orfeo waved his hand toward Caterina, “just makes it even more urgent that he dies.”

“Why do you want him dead?” Cami shot back.

“He ordered several hundred of his minions to tear me into little pieces when I refused to mate with him.” Orfeo smiled humorlessly at her.

“Why did he want you to be his mate if Tripp and Caterina are the key?” said the big man sitting with the two Sidhe .

Orfeo looked at him and still saw no outward hostility from him. He softened his tone a bit when he answered, “His clan is originally from Umbria; mine is from Tuscany; we are neighbors of a sort. At the time it happened, I was the Prince to our clan and the one prophesied to lead our people out of darkness. He was power hungry and wished to have me as his mate so that he could control what happened when that time came. He manipulated my father into believing my father could help him be a better person. Meanwhile, he continually tried to coerce me into becoming his lover. Finally, one night he tal ked me into going to a masquerade ball with him. When we got there, he disappeared, then reappeared on stage, introducing me to the crowd. Most, it turned out, were humans he had sir ed as Vampire s. He asked me to be his lover again and I refused him. He had his c la n o f Rogue ‘s attack me, and I barely got away with my life. Many humans were slaughtered that night. A fire was set to cover-up and all the Vampire s he created were hunted down and killed. He was the only one to elude us. At heart, he ‘s a coward and often runs unless he’s sure of overpowering his opponents.”

Orfeo, got up from his chair again, as this was a difficult topic to discuss. He went to a sideboard, poured himself a glass of water, drinking it down. Then walking back to the table, he stopped in front of the blood pooled on the floor. Speaking a few words and gently waving his hand, he brought the blood up to rest in the glass. “I apologize. It is our way; your floor won’t be stained,” h e then continued his story.

“If it wasn’t for my mother being suspicious of him, I wouldn’t have survived . She had someone follow us and then a n army of our men were sent out to find and help me. My mother only found me because of our telepathic link. My father sent out a search party for Diavolo’s head, but he has been able to elude us ever since.”

By the time Orfeo was done speaking, he felt as if he had been dragged right back to that time and place . His emotions were raw, and he knew he had been crying once again toward s the end of his speech because his cheeks were wet. This time though, the emotion was distant enough that his tears were not of blood. He sat down exhausted ; he put his head in his hands and attempted to regain his control .

A few seconds later, he felt a small hand touching his shoulder. Knowing who was there, he moved very slowly as h e looked up at Caterina standing beside him. She brushed some of the tears from his face and cupped his cheek in her hand. Orfeo leaned his head into her hand, taking comfort from the small gesture.

He wanted to touch her back, to hold her in his arms, and embrace her, but he could still fe el the fear radiating off of her . He looked into her eyes and spoke from his heart, hoping that she would see the sincerity in his words. “I would never hurt you, Caterina. I know some of what he did to you, I couldn’t help but get pictures from the words Quin pushed at me, but it is nothing I would even dream of doing to you. If you gave me a chance, I would love, cherish you, and take care of you. Both of you,” he added, turning to look at Tripp.

She smiled but then dropped her hand and stepped away. “I’m just not ready. I don’t know what to believe anymore, and I’m not ready to believe you. I’m sorry.”

With that, she left the room.

Tripp had felt the pain coming from his mates, but he didn’t know which one to go to. He wanted to comfort them both, but was still not sure if he could trust Orfeo. Finally, he walked over to Orfeo’s chair, ran his hand over his head and then left Orfeo sitting there watching after him as he followed Caterina out the door.

Caterina didn’t know what to think. She could tell that Orfeo wasn’t lying about the story. She felt his emotions as if they were her own. She also knew he seemed sincere in what he said to her, but she had been lied to before and didn’t know whether to believe him. She knew in her heart that he was telling her the truth, but she still wasn’t ready to accept it in her head. She had been through too much already.

When she had entered the room, she knew straight away that there was something different about this Vampire . Not only, didn’t he seem as evil as the others, but she felt something pulling her to him —she had only felt that with Tripp.
Tripp , she had left him standing in that room. Poor Tripp is stuck in the middle of this.

Caterina found herself in her room. She climbed up onto her bed and curled her knees into her chest. What was she going to do about Tripp? She didn’t know when she had come to trust him, but she had. He had become her rock and made her feel stronger when all she ever used to feel was weak and vulnerable.

“Caterina, are you in here?” she heard Tripp yell from the living room of the apartment.

“I’m in here, Tripp.”

He appeared in the doorway in seconds and just stood there filling the entire thing. “I was worried about you when you ran off.”

Caterina just looked at him for a second, taking in his features: his large muscular body, his long dark hair, his olive skin, and his steel grey eyes. The scar that traced a line down one cheek, she wondered if she could kiss it away if she tried.

She reached out her hand. “Come lay with me , Tripp. I need you to hold me.”

He looked hesitant, but slowly left the doorway to enter the room. “Are you sure?”

Caterina just smiled at how uncertain he sounded. “Yes, please.”

Tripp walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed in behind Caterina. He sat on the edge at first, while she watched at him, and took off his boots. Then he l ay down on his side, and slowly slid up behind her. He was uncertain at first when he put his hand on her hip, but she grabbed his hand, linking their fingers together, and pulled it to rest just below her breasts, then snuggled her back into his front and sighed.

The lump that had been in his throat since he entered the meeting room earlier that evening seemed to evaporate as he pulled her even closer and smelled her hair. He had only dreamt of this moment since the moment he first laid eyes on her, and now he was there. What should have felt like the best thing in the world actually felt like something was missing.

Tripp’s eyes widened when he realized what was missing. He knew now that he and Caterina would never be complete without their third, without Orfeo. But he knew Caterina was nowhere near ready for that, and he wasn’t sure he was either. He couldn’t believe everything that had happened in the last few days . He never believed his life would be like this, and he wasn’t sure that he liked it.

For now, he held Caterina as closely as possible and just breathed in her scent. After a few minutes, he heard her breathing even out and knew that she was asleep, but he didn’t want to leave her side now that she had finally let him in. So he just got as comfortable as possible and let sleep take him as well. They would think about all of this tomorrow, about what they were going to do. For now, they would just hold each other and sleep.

***

Orfeo knew that it was going to be hard to win over his mates. After Tripp and Caterina had left, the Council had told him the rest of what Diavolo had done to her , and what she had gone through to get there. Orfeo was infuriated all over again and ready to go out into the night and hunt Diavolo down. He knew the devil had to be close; he wouldn’t be too far from Caterina by now.

But Orfeo knew that if he went out now, he may not get the opportunity to find him before first light. Besides, he had to work on fixing what the bastard had ruined. Orfeo should have known Diavolo wouldn’t stop trying to take control of the prophecy. He also knew the other Vampire s that had gone after her since she escaped him were his creations.

Orfeo let Jaden and Quin lead him and his group down into the basement, where they had made separate rooms for his people . The rooms were comfortable and for the time being, protected them against light. But Orfeo also knew it was a safety precaution. Once the group was down there, they were locked in, and there were cameras all over the place. Orfeo should have warned them that the cameras would not have been able to pick up the Vampire ‘s images, but he didn’t feel like making them feel even more wary of him and his people by pointing out he knew about them. He did mention to them that he suspected Diavolo was near, and they were right to be prepared. He gave them a few suggestions for increasing the safety of the compound and the small town of Milliken.

He picked up his cell phone and dialed home. He asked to speak to his mother first. He needed advice on what to do with Caterina and knew his mama would be able to give it to him.

“Orfeo, darling,” his mother spoke into the phone. “We weren’t expecting to hear from you so soon. What’s wrong?”

Leave it to his mother to know there was something wrong right off.

“Hello, mama.” Orfeo smiled at the comfort her familiar voice brought him. “How is everything at home?”

“Everything is fine here, Orfeo. Now stop trying to change the subject and tell me what has happened.”

Resolving himself to just getting it over with and then asking her advice, Orfeo went ahead and explained everything that had happened and was said.

When he finished, he held on for a moment then asked his mother, “Mama, I need your advice as to what to do with Caterina. She doesn’t trust me to even get close to her.”

His mother was quiet for a few minutes, and Orfeo had almost thought she had hung up on him.

But then she said, “I have decided that I am going to come over there and straighten out this embarrassing situation . Your father a nd I will be there no later than tomorrow evening to talk some sense into your mates and finally have a resolution with Diavolo , may he rot in hell . That coglione has hurt m i fami g lia for the last time!”

Orfeo’s mother never swore, so he knew she was mad, but he still didn’t need her over here meddling. “Ma m a , no. I am no longer a bambino , but a man and Sire of the clan . I just called for advice as to what you think I should do. I plan to fix this myself.”

“You may be Sire of the clan, but you will always be my bambino, and I will not sit idly by while that Diavolo messes up your life. Do not argue with me, Orfeo, you will not win. I will be over there as soon as possible, and we will sort this out together.”

Orfeo was about to respond, but he was met with a dial tone as his mother had hung up on him. Great. Now his mother was on her way and there was nothing he could say or do but warn the New Council of her arrival.

He knew he didn’t want to disturb the house as they were probably going to bed, but he wouldn’t be able to tell them in the morning. So he dialed the number to the security room and left a message with them to tell Quin in the morning. Then he went about unpacking and getting comfortable in his new room. It was still too early to sleep for him, so he retrieved one of the blood bags that was brought with them, and poured it into a glass to drink ; he wanted to keep all his abilities in top condition . Then he l ay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling, while he thought about what a great big mess this all was, and wondered what he was going to do about it.